The Technical Details
by E. Griffin
Summary: Set before the events of the movie, twin sisters on the run from the law encounter the abandoned town of Athelston. When circumstance leads them to become separated, it becomes clear that something is not quite right.


**The Technical Details**

**By:** E.R.M. Griffin

**Summary: **House of Wax - Set before the events of the movie, twin sisters on the run from the law encounter the abandoned town of Athelston. When circumstance leads them to become separated, it becomes clear that something is not quite right.

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**CHAPTER 1 **

Eva had learned long ago, that it was a lost cause to try to reason with her sister. Any such attempt at reasoning was a lost cause. Which explained why she was gripping her sister's waist as they sped down the lone highway in the middle of the night at neck-breaking speed, and keeping quiet about it. She was far more familiar then anyone could be with just how focused Elena could get on a specific task. So much so that any resistance was met with force of any sort deemed necessary, and while her sister had never lashed out at Eva, the girl was in no mood to test those waters tonight.

Not with everything the way it was.

Never the less, she screamed over the sound of the motorcycle and the wind whipping in her face. _"How much further?"_

Elena turned her head back to look at her, brows furrowed. Eva repeated the question. _"As far as we have to sissy, as far as we can!"_ She turned back to watch the road, stretching out before them, seemingly endless in the midnight gloom.

Eva winced, but continued to hang on. She knew that despite everything, her sister was right. Despite the fact they were doing a hundred on a sixty road, not wearing helmets, had no money to their names, and had stolen the motorcycle they were riding, she knew Elena was right. They had to keep going and they had to keep going as far as they could.

Which probably meant that once Elena noticed the fact that the gas gage was pointing to Empty, things would not go over well.

Eva closed her eyes, hung on tight, and prayed.

As predicted, about five minutes later, she heard the sound of her sister screaming obscenities over the roar of the motorcycle. Slowing the bike, Elena looked back at her sister.

"We're fucked."

Eva smiled nervously. "Well, maybe we can get gas somewhere?"

Elena shook her head. "Like where? You saw the map, there's no town for another hour or so, we won't have enough time...fuck, I should have stolen a gas can along with this fucking bike!"

"At least we got this far..."

"-The fuck good it does us!"

Eva flinched, and Elena winced, her features softening. Bringing the bike to a dead stop on the road, she motioned for Eva to get off. Her sister did so cautiously, as though she feared being left behind. Noticing this, Elena rolled her eyes.

"Relax, will you. I'm not riding off into the sunset without you...or sunrise, as it were."

Eva felt her face flush, feeling a bit stupid. "Sorry...I just-"

"Hey wait, what is that?" Elena interrupted, motioning to something behind Eva, who immediately turned to see what had drawn her sister's attention. It took a bit of squinting to see in the dark, but she could only just make out a weather beaten path that led from the side of the highway into the woods around them. She couldn't see where it lead, the darkness enveloping it completely just a few feet in.

"A road." Eva shrugged. "A road into the woods."

Elena rolled her eyes. "I can see that you fucking sissy, I mean, where do you think it goes?"

"The woods?" Eva smiled shakily.

"Oh, funny!"

Revving the engine of the bike, Elena started it up again, turning it around on the road. Immediately, Eva climbed on in back.

"You better hold on, this could get bumpy!" Elena turned her head slightly.

"Where are we going?"

The bike faced the hidden path. "Where the hell do you think?"

Eva chewed on her bottom lip, brushing a few strands of long hair out her worn face. "But we don't know where this goes."

"So what? We already know for sure riding along the highway will do jack-shit. At least this way we might run into a campground or something. Worth a shot, right?" She looked almost pleadingly at Eva.

"I guess..."

There was no more words exchanged then. Elena gave a laugh of approval, then set the bike down the path.

The trip down the old path wasn't as bad as Eva had thought it would be. Besides a few stray leaves and branches whipping her over the head lightly and the ground being a little shakier than she would have liked, the ride was bearable. They rode for about fifteen minutes more before the bike began to die down. By then, the road had lengthened to one that both could tell had been previously travelled, perhaps even recently. Both were hoping for some sign of civilization, even if just a simple campground.

"Any port in a storm, right?" Elena spoke as they walked down that same path, pushing the bike alongside her.

They came to a rocky cut in the road, where Elena decided it was best to stash the bike in some foliage rather than continue on with it and risk blowing a tire. So they continued on along the rougher terrain, careful of twisting an ankle.

When they came around a corner of trees, both sisters stood beside each other, gaping in surprise.

"It's a town." Eva was grinning ear to ear, gripping her sister's arm with a force that made Elena wince.

"Loosen the hold Wonder-Woman, you're hurting!"

Glancing down, Eva quickly let go, flushing. "Sorry, I just thought..."

"We were fucked?"

"Yeah..."

They walked alongside each other down the road, the town getting bigger and bigger around them. In truth, the place looked somewhat shabby, like a hick town from a bad western movie. But any port in a storm was too true, in that case.

"My God...I wonder how many times a year the men here have to fuck their sisters to keep this hole populated!"

"El!"

"What?" Elena laughed, putting a reassuring arm around her twin. "Relax sissy, this place is going to be cake. All we gotta do now is find us a gas station, grab some gas, some cash too if it applies, and we can high tail it onward!"

"But what if there's an attendant?" Eva asked.

"So?"

"Well...," she coughed, the look on Elena's face silencing any further questions.

Elena, who saw the pallid look on her face, gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "We're not gonna do anything stupid Eva, you know that. At least...I won't, I promise."

"Maybe we've already done as bad as we could do...," Eva started, but felt the rest die in her throat at the expression on Elena's face. There was a moment of silence as they walked along, neither speaking. Finally, Elena, who had been staring straight ahead and continued to do so, spoke in a low, but controlled tone.

"They had it coming." Her face was set in stone. "They had it coming when da...when _he_ touched you. They had coming when she just watched and didn't say a fucking word."

"But-"

_"Christ, he fucked you Eva, don't you think that was fucking asking for it?"_

Eva froze mid-step, her foot settling onto the ground slowly. Her lips shook and she looked on the verge of crying. Almost immediately, Elena turned her around and put her arms around the shaking girl, even as she began to cry.

"Come on...I'm sorry. I'm sorry, don't cry." She soothed her, stroking the back of her head. "None of what happened was your fault. And mom...mom was an accident."

_"But...but...they're both..."_ She was sobbing now, and Elena was caught between a mixed feeling of pity and annoyance. Her sister had always been overly too emotional, the exact opposite of the emotionally stunted person Elena had seemed to become over the years. But growing up the way they did could have different effects on anyone, and she couldn't blame Eva for any of that. Not when there were far better people to point fingers at.

"Look, get a hold of yourself, okay?" Elena pulled her away gently, looking her in the face. "This is why we left, so we wouldn't have to deal with any of this bullshit and wouldn't risk prison-"

"B-But...we could tell them...we could tell them was really happened...it..."

"No, fucking forget it, okay!" Elena shook her lightly, trying to snap her out of it. "I don't want to deal with any of it, okay! You know what it would mean? Hour upon hour of media, trials, photos...videotapes...," she shuddered visibly. "...no, fuck that."

They walked down the road, passing seemingly empty stores and buildings as they walked. The town around them was eerily silent and even as the full moon shone brightly down on them, there seemed to be nobody else on the streets but them.

"Not even a friendly wino to be found...a bit creepy, actually," Elena muttered.

Eva was inclined to agree. There wasn't a sound to be heard anywhere, even as most of the buildings around them were lit up and some even posted "Open" signs. Yet having tried those said stores had only resulted in locked doors.

"What's wrong with this place? Where is everybody?" Eva wondered aloud.

Elena shrugged. "Well, it is pretty late, I guess everyone is probably sleeping."

"I guess..." Eva trailed off, her eyes frozen on a larger building down the road from them.

"What?" Elena turned to look at the building, then sighed. "Great, forget it!"

"Aw, come on, I love Wax Museums!" Eva begged, already heading down the left fork of the road towards the brown building. Running up behind her, Elena put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, then thought better of it and made a new decision instead.

_This could be just the thing to calm her down...what'll it hurt, so long as we're both careful..._She decided. _Hell, the place will probably be closed this late anyway._ "Alright, you can go check it out. I'm gonna go down the road a ways, I saw a church there, maybe there's a priest or something I can ask about the gas station. Just meet me back at the intersection in ten minutes, got it?"

Eva grinned. "Yeah!"

"And don't do or say anything stupid!"

"I won't!"

"Okay," Elena turned, then hesitated. "Eva?"

"Yeah?"

"Be real careful, okay!"

"'Kay!"

They parted ways then, one heading up the street towards a rather ominous House of Wax, while another headed out to the Church just down the street.

Eva took the rest of the way to the House of Wax in a quick walk, wanting to make the most of the visit while she could. But at the same time, she was afraid she would probably find the place locked. Amazingly enough, the front door was open and after a moment of hesitation, she let herself inside the silent building.

The first thing that she noticed upon entering was that this wasn't simply a House of Wax. No, this was a _House of Wax._ These were no cement or wood walls holding the building together, nor was any of the furniture to be found placed among the exhibits. All of it, from top to bottom, was _wax._

"Wow..." Eva breathed, walking slowly through the main hall.

Running her hands along the wall as she walked, she marvelled at the detail in just about everything there was to see. The main hall opened up to a large room, where several different wax statues had been erected in various costumes and poses. The entire room around them, down to the furniture some of the statues sat on, was made of wax as well.

For a moment, Eva wished her sister had come with her, just so she could have showed her the house. She was sure Elena would have thought it at least moderately interesting.

Moving further, she had to keep careful watch of tripping in the darkness. The moon shone inside through the many windows, casting slivers of light that illuminated the inside just enough to let her see.

_Where is everyone? _She wondered as she examined a painting on a nearby wall. _Shouldn't the owner or something be around?_

She pondered on this a bit more, then decided on the most plausible answer. The same answer that Elena would have most likely given her had she addressed her sister with that question.

_I guess being such a small town means there's little risk of anything being stolen, so the place is left unlocked._

She passed by a small group of wax statues nervously, the grinning faces half-shadowed by darkness.

Moving on, she entered another room which had been designed to look like a kitchen. A wax figure of a woman stood near a window, wearing a dark blue apron. Had she been living, perhaps she would have been in the midst of preparing breakfast for a non-existent family. The notion made Eva strangely sad.

There was a clock on the wall beside the figure, and Eva strained to catch sight of the time, wondering how much longer she had before she had to go out and meet Elena again. She froze suddenly, realizing that, like everything else, the clock was part of the decor. All wax. Yet something about it caught her eye, and she squinted, trying to make out something scrawled onto the bottom left of the face.

"Vin-." The sound of a door slamming somewhere inside the house startled her, sending her heart beating hard in her chest. Taking a few steps away from the figurine, Eva stood very still, listening for any following sound. Expecting to hear footsteps at any moment, she waited a full three minutes before she began to feel herself relax, her tensed shoulders sagging.

_Maybe I should go now_, she took a shaky breath. Despite the fact that the front door had been open, there was a good chance that anyone finding her inside the place after midnight would not lead to anything good. _I would probably have to pay to get in here...so this is like, trespassing!_

Spinning on her heel, she chose to make a hasty exit right there and then. She could already hear Elena in her head, telling her she was being a sissy.

"Eva, she'd say, they shouldn't have left the door open in the first place!" She mimicked, moving cautiously back into the last room. Everything looked to be just as it been five minutes ago. The figurines still grinned their empty grins, and the room was still empty of anyone but herself. Anyone living, anyway. Moving to the front door, she opened it and stepped into the chilly night air. Shivering, she realized that being inside the House of Wax had warmed her up, the heating making her a bit aware of just how cold it was out.

Sitting on the wax steps, she leaned against the railing and sighed, wanting to kill a bit more time before walking out to meet Elena. Truth was, she didn't really want to keep going tonight.

"Maybe she'll let us stay the night at a motel here or something...," she muttered, trailing off as she remembered that they were, essentially, very broke. _Not that it's ever stopped her before,_ Eva thought bitterly, then felt a streak of guilt. It was true that the events over the last few days weren't _really_ Elena's fault, but there were still things they could have done that would have been smarter than just running. _Not to mention smarter then stealing money and ripping off a motorcycle_. She winced inwardly, clutching the railing a bit harder and loosening her hold only when bits of wax began to come up under her fingernails.

Now, the motorcycle was all out of gas and the money was gone, which left them with little choice. _I wish we could just go back._

The sound of a branch breaking caused Eva to gasp and stand immediately, looking for the source. Yet there was no sign of movement from the shadows around the house. Yet she was suddenly struck with anxiety, coupled with the strongest feeling that although she couldn't see anyone, someone was seeing _her._

_

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_

Elena wasn't big on churches. It wasn't that she had anything against religion or the concept of God, Heaven, and all the angels, she just hadn't been able to get into any of it. She'd had friends-back in the day-who'd taken her to a sermon or two, but she hadn't been able to sit through a single one without wondering what all the hubbub was about. She hadn't understood half of the stuff the priest had been saying. If that had been on part her fault or the priest's, she didn't bother trying to figure out.

But then, she wasn't here tonight to listen to a sermon. There were two options she could work with right now: One, that she could find some soft-hearted priest and guilt-trip him into sparing a few bucks for gas and food (and maybe a place to stay for the night if they were particularly lucky), or two, that she would find some not-so-soft-hearted priest that could direct her to the nearest gas station (and come to think of it, this dive probably only had one) where she could pick up some gas for the bike. Hopefully, she could go in and help herself to a few bags of chips while the attendant's back was turned too. But if she could walk away with a gas cannister she would count herself lucky.

Walking up the steps of the small church, she could just make out what sounded like a sermon.

_A sermon at..._she looked down at her watch, squinting to make it out in the dark. _...almost half-past midnight?_

Yet the sound was unmistakable, the soft sound of organ music coupled with the lilting voice of what could only be a priest-delivered sermon. There was no mistaking that slow, droll, and yet somehow fixated tone of voice. It could only be associated with a priest.

"What the fuck?" She tried he door, but found it locked. Knocking on it three times, then three more-louder-times had no effect. The doors stayed shut and locked and nobody came to greet her. Biting back her frustration, Elena made her way back down the steps and stepped past the busy foliage around the building, moving to the side of the church and towards a large window. Pressing her face up against the glass, she cupped her hand around her eyes and tried to see inside.

The interior of the church was dark, a stray candle or two in the process of burning out. Given another half hour or so and they would go out completely, bathing the interior of the "House of God" into complete darkness. Yet despite the lack of light, Elena could still make out what looked to be a handful of people scattered about the pews. She couldn't see clearly enough to tell if there was a priest anywhere amongst them, yet everyone sat there quite still, their heads bowed in what seemed to be mourning.

Without thinking, she called out to the people inside, beating her fist lightly on the window. She had no desire to go breaking windows on a church, so she tried to limit it to light raps. There was a brief flash of movement she caught from the corner of her eye, but by the time she looked towards its source, everything was stilled. Nobody inside the church made any move to come outside, continuing in their singing and sermon. She tried again, calling out louder.

_They have to hear me, even over that stupid sermon. You'd have to be deaf not to,_ she felt a familiar anger building inside her chest and called out for the last time, this time particularly loud on both her call and then window. It shook slightly under her fist. Yet she was met with the same continuous indifference, as though she didn't exist at all. _Those fuckers!_

Disgusted, she moved from the window and back around to the front of the house. This time, her fist actually hurt as she pounded on the front door.

_"Hey! Can't any of you fucks in there hear me?"_ She called. Receiving no reply, she whirled away and stalked away from the door, but not before giving it a good, firm kick that made the wooden door shake in its old hinges. "Stupid bastards..." she muttered under her breath. She made her way back down the stairs and away from the church. Inside, she was fuming. _Eva better be waiting at that intersection. Fuck this town and everyone in it, we'll find that gas station ourselves and..._

Her thoughts were interrupted as a flood of light washed around her. Whirling, she was faced with the sight of a dark brown pickup truck, which had somehow driven up behind her silently, flooding her and the road around her with its high beams. Holding a hand above her eyes, she tried to make out the driver, managing to keep her head.

"Hey! Who are you?" She called out, keeping the obscenities out of her voice for the time being, lest the driver could be of some help. There was no reply, only the constant glare of those headlights. Yet, there had to be someone inside the truck. _"Hey! You're blinding me over here, do you mind?"_ She screamed a bit louder, lest the driver were hard of hearing. Somehow, she doubted it though.

_Goddamn town hick, just like in the church!_ She thought angrily. The anger she had felt moments ago resurfaced twice fold, boiling slowly up in her chest. If there was one thing she couldn't--_couldn't_--stand, it was being ignored. At least not when it really mattered.

The truck moved suddenly and the breath in Elena's throat was cut short. The tires squealed on the road, then pitched the truck head-on towards her. Without stopping to think, she turned a straight arc and ran down the road, towards the intersection.

_Eva, Eva will be waiting!_ Her mind suddenly screamed, and she changed course swiftly, her new path leading her towards the sidewalk and to the lineup of the stores there. There was a store right at the corner that was built at an curve, with a top that stretched overtop and a beam dead center that would allow her passage through, but wouldn't do the same for the truck. That was her first priority: stopping the truck. She wasn't about to disillusion herself with the idea that the driver wasn't trying to run her down.

_Maybe it's some bible-thumper that saw me kick the church door!_

She had just made it to the sidewalk by her target store when she felt something hard graze her side, pausing instinctively, she was suddenly taken forward by a blow to her lower back, causing her to pitch to the sidewalk. Her head struck the pavement in a smooth pitch, knocking her out almost instantly. The mirror that had been previously attached to the side of the pickup truck came rolling to a stop a few feet away, having come off when it had struck the Elena's back.

The driver of the pickup brought it to a slow stop, then backed up until the passenger-side was on level with the unconscious girl. The driver emerged from his side and walked over to survey the damage. After a moment, he brought one black boot down against the unknown girl's stomach, kicking her onto her back.

"Fucking bitch broke the mirror," he muttered under his breath, making short work of picking his victim up and loading her into the passenger side of the pickup. He got back into the driver's seat a second later, replacing his seat belt and taking a moment to look over at the her. There was a small trail of blood on the side of her forehead and a livid bruise had already began to form. "That's real damn attractive, ain't it!" He laughed, bringing a hand up underneath her shirt. "...well, damn. Tonight might not be a waste after all."

Turning off his headlights and backing away from the line of stores, the driver brought the truck around and headed up an opposing street. His eyes could already make out the house dead ahead, even in the darkness.

"And to think I was just gonna stay in and grab some sleep tonight! I would have missed all the fun."

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_To Be Continued..._


End file.
